Armadillo eggs recipe

Once a year, a reader shoots me an email asking when I’ll be writing an armadillo eggs recipe. At first I said, “Uh, armadillos are mammals—they don’t lay eggs!” But soon I realized that he was talking about a certain jalapeño appetizer. Unfortunately, however, writing about armadillo eggs isn’t as simple as it may appear, as there are several different thoughts about what this finger food should be.

My reader’s interpretation of the dish is that it’s a baked jalapeño that’s been stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. I’ve seen others label these bacon-wrapped jalapeños as armadillo eggs, too. But I was always taught that the name for this dish was ABT. (I’ll let you discover on your own what the letters stand for, as it’s a bit too colorful for me.) ABTs also can be grilled or smoked, the latter of which makes them a popular snack on the championship barbecue circuit. While you’re waiting for your brisket to become tender, you can keep people happy with a plate of ABTs.

Then there are the cheese-stuffed jalapeños that have been breaded and fried, which are also known as armadillo eggs. I, however, have always thought of that snack as a jalapeño popper.

So what’s my idea of an armadillo egg? In my experience, it’s always been a whole, halved or quartered jalapeño, which has been stuffed with cheese, rolled in uncooked sausage and then crusted with breadcrumbs before baking or grilling. Though sometimes the breading step will be eliminated with no loss of impact or flavor.

I’ve read in some places that this version was invented in Lubbock at Texas Tech. Though there were similar recipes printed in newspapers back in the 1980s that called for certain brand-name ingredients, which made me wonder if perhaps a food company didn’t create the recipe instead.

That said, the first mention of armadillo eggs I was able to find was from 1972 in a Victoria, Texas Advocate article about an armadillo festival the town was holding. Amongst the festival’s offerings was a group selling armadillo eggs along with dill pickles. I don’t know what their interpretation of the dish was, but if it involved jalapeños, I reckon it was good.

When I make my armadillo eggs, I adapt a recipe created by the Southfork Ranch. (If you’re a fan of the TV show “Dallas,” the ranch is indeed a real place, though I don’t think anyone named J.R. Ewing or Miss Ellie lives there.) Their version is simple—quartered jalapeños stuffed with cheddar, wrapped in sausage and baked. Sure, the cheddar lends a yolk effect to the “eggs” when sliced in half. But I combine softened cream cheese with the cheddar, as I adore how its cool creaminess complements the hot jalapeños.

What do you know as armadillo eggs? Here’s my version, which may be different than yours, but they are still outstanding. And even if nobody is certain on what to call them, I can be sure that you won’t be able to eat just one.

Instructions

Mix together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, cilantro, and cumin until well blended. Taste and add salt, and adjust seasonings.

Remove the stems from the jalapeños and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and then cut the sliced jalapeños in half, horizontally.

Place about a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in each jalapeño quarter. Divide the sausage into 24 equal-sized portions and pat each into a 3-inch circle then place the stuffed jalapeño in the center of the sausage. Wrap the sausage around the stuffed jalapeño until it’s completely covered, and form into an egg shape.

Place sausage-wrapped jalapeños on the sheet, about an inch apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the sausage is cooked. For additional browning on top, you can place the sheet under the broiler for 2-5 minutes.

I finally get why they're called armadillo eggs! The creamy cheddar in the center looks yolk-y! Oh, Lisa, what would I do without you? How would I explain to my Yankee friends these things without your help? I've also had an olive salad that was called armadillo egg salad. Odd.

I LOVE armadillo eggs! I live about 80 miles north of Dallas. Our version of the armadillo egg is a jalapeno (canned, packed in oil) cut in half and seeds removed, stuffed with a chunk of colby-jack cheese, then rolled in a mixture of sausage mixed with Bisquick then you roll it in OvenFry for Pork and bake. Delicious!

Armadillo eggs are one of my favorite indulgences! My mother makes them every year at Christmas. Our recipe consists of whole jalapenos (from a can) stuffed with cream cheese, and then wrapped in a maple flavored sausage. The combination of spicy, sweet, creamy is really satisfying.

I never understood why they were called eggs either! My husband and I used to eat them at Billy Bob's Steak, Bluegrass and BBQ on the Savannah waterfront when we were dating. Little did we know then that we would end up in TX one day!I was perusing your blog last night as I was making my meal list. I got sad reading about the great food in Austin. We miss it SO much!

ABT is a tough one because you assume the 'A' is for armadillo. And for at least a few other reasons. There certainly aren't any clues here. I had to try a few different Google searches before I could find somebody who spelled out the acronym.

I will post it here since it's not really worthy of censor, even if Lisa didn't want to sully her keyboard with it.

As someone else already said, your version sounds a lot like a Scotch egg. Since you're scooping out the seeds from the jalapenos, how is the heat level affected? I figure that it that brings it down some, but how much?

What do you consider a "medium-sized" jalapeno? And if you start with six jalapenos, and split them in half, isn't the yield 12 armadillo eggs instead of 24?

While i have had countless numbers of jalapeño cheese stuffed fried things, vie never had one with sausage. This sounds so good! And I don't think anyone lives at south fork…I live about 5 miles from there and all I ever see are events! Lol

Lisa, your version is great and as always you are correct! A favorite Southern breakfast dish, "Scotch Eggs" is a soft boiled egg wrapped in uncooked sausage, then breaded and baked. I then would serve them with cream gravy. Yum! Thus Armadillo eggs are a zippy take on Scotch eggs or maybe just a happenstance that they resemble each other! Congrats on your book deal!

I have no version of the eggs to share, b/c this is the first I have heard of them. I know I'm a northerner but my college roommate from Dallas never mentioned them… maybe she was trying to keep them a secret.

We often order amrmadillo eggs from a resteraunt called Buzzard Billy's here in Waco, TX Their version is a half a jalapeno stuffed with cheese wrapped in chicken breast and then wrapped with bacon forming a ball shape. Then they are friend. So good.

I've never even thought to get all creative and add other ingredients to the cheeses. Since I'm stuck in this Chicago blizzard and missing Texas big time (although, I hear it's cold there, too), this might be on the menu tonight. Thanks!

Lisa,Thanks for this post. I had decided to get out the smoker this weekend, despite all the NJ snow, and do a brisket. Had also planned to make some ABT (an Okie knows from ABTs!) But I think I'll pass and just do these Armadillo Eggs.Steve

love it! These were a staple at family gatherings growing up. The only difference was was that my aunt would leave the stem on and they were simply referred to as " armadillos. Quite the treasured memory! Thanks!

What a great, yummy idea – especially for the third day in a row when the high temp has been NINETEEN DEGREES, with sub-zero windchills…in TEXAS! Thanks for the recipe and, we're so sorry, Packers and Steelers fans – last Saturday was 80'!

There's a restaurant in Kemah, TX called T-Bone Tom's. They were featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dive's TV show. As a local Houstonian, and local to the Clear Lake area, I had never heard of T-Bone Tom's until I saw the show. Their Armadillo Eggs are HUGE and delicious.

Caroline–Maybe she was! Though I've ran into a few people that didn't know about them so perhaps that was the case.

Anon–Oh, yum! That sounds decadent!

Rebecca–You're very welcome. Keep warm!

Jeff–Thank you for the inspiration!

Lisa–I think you could definitely do that. I'd add chili powder or cumin, garlic and ancho-chile powder to the ground beef. Basically, season it like you'd season taco meat or your favorite spicy burger. And I'll definitely let you know when I'm headed out on my book tour!

Susan–I don't know of a smaller pepper with less heat, as generally the smaller peppers have more heat! I find that once you remove the seeds, however, jalapeños aren't that hot.

Ashweekins–Thanks for the link!

Auburn Meadow Farm–You're very welcome. Enjoy!

Lisa is Cooking–Yes, you should definitely get to know them!

Gkimmilou–Now that's cute!

Anon–It's colder in Texas than it is in New York. How nuts is that?

Anon–Read the above comments and you'll find the answer.

Ausin–Enjoy! They'd be great at Grandma's Fourth of July party, grilled!

As an ex-pat Texan living in Northern Maryland, I have been living by your recipes the last several years. Will be making these for the game, just have to pick up some cilantro.Thanks! MaxABT = After Burn Tommorrow!

I just made up a nest of these for Superbowl snacks tomorrow. I baked them (rolled in bread crumbs) 3 ways,with canned jalapenos,raw jalapenos,and even a couple with bacon (mmmm!) rather than sausage. I made the sausage ones with the maple flavor someone suggested here.I tried one of each when they were done,& they are ALL fantastic! We grow & LOVE jalapenos(don't ALL Texans?)and these are way better than the poppers I tried before.I also added some jalapeno Monterrey jack in the cheese blend. Wonderful! Thank you so much for another great Texas recipe!

I have a trick for seeding jalepenos I'm proud of: get an old-fashioned carrot/potato peeler, and after cutting off the stem of the jalepeno, just insert the blade of the peeler and slice out the membrane down to the tip (with a sweeping circular motion). You can now turn the jap upsidedown and just dump out the seeds and membrane.

Turns out that the peeler is the perfect shape for this job, and we've already got one.

We love armadillo eggs. I have had them stuffed with all kinds of goodness from shrimp to shredded BBQ chicken. One of my favorites was an armadillo egg filled with chorizo, cheddar, and cream cheese which was then breaded, wrapped in bacon and then deep fried. It was SOOOO good!

these look delicious. thanks for sharing some of the history and showing us your method for doing it. i cant wait to make some for myself now. is this really popular in texas? and have you made it a hit in new york yet?

omg – these sound heavenly! i can't wait to try them. as for poppers, i always hated the generic breaded ones at restaurants; the ones i make are similar to yours. i have the jalapenos and stuff with cream cheese AND a small strip of fajita-seasoned steak, them wrap in the bacon and broil them. i serve them with heinz 57 sauce to dip. last time i made 50 to grill at a family bbq & found that my cousin bill ate 24 of them as he was cooking them! can't wait to bring your ABT's over!!! thanks for the recipes!

Jolene in MN

p.s. wondering what the 57 sauce mixed with ranch would taste like? hmm…

I have grown up knowing the armadillo eggs to be the ones from T-Bone Tom's in Kemah, Tx. This restaurant is minutes from my house and feature the eggs as an appetizer. I usually just get them as my dinner. Their armadillo eggs are made of brisket with a jalapeno slice and then fried. Delicious.

For all you deer hunters or if you can get your hands on some venision pan sausage. Do her above recipe but wrap the stuffed jalapeno with homemade venision pan sausage and wrap it with maple bacon. Just that touch of sweetness from the bacon makes a difference to me.

We make them, and call them Armadillo Eggs, except ours are the halved jalapenos (fresh), stuffed with pepper jack, encased in Jimmy Dean HOT sausage, then we roll the 'egg' in spicy cajun fish fry before baking. They are HOT and addictive! I love them!! I've been making them smaller, as meatballs, as well (just chopping the pepper finely, mixing with the cheese and sausage, then rolling in the coating). So good!!

Jimmy Dean sausage stuff with a pickled jalepeno and a cube of velveeta, then covered in a crescent roll and baked until delicious. It's definitely not fancy or healthy by any stretch of the imagination, but from someone who doesn't even like breakfast sausage, it is so very good!

Delicious recipe! My boyfriend happens to be a homesick Texan, and I decided to make him something special from our garden (which is full of jalapenos!). I found your recipe and got to it. I used the spicy Jimmy Dean sausage and was so excited at how these eggs were going to turn out. My only issue was I misread your recipe and I used the WHOLE jalapeno! Oh we were sweating, our noses were running, my boyfriend couldn't stop hiccuping, and I ran straight to the kitchen for the milk! My boyfriend said these were great and his Granny would be proud to see me make something like this (meanwhile I was suffering from the extreme heat of using a whole one). Nevertheless, they were delicious!! And I plan to make them again very soon… paying a little more attention to the recipe this time 🙂

i've lived in texas for 19 years and somehow i've never heard of armadillo eggs!

but i have been making a recipe for the past 3 years that is very similar.. turkey meatballs with goat cheese and jalapenos. i chop the jalapenos and spread the goat cheese throughout the turkey and spice mixture.

i think i could "blend" these recipes together and it would make turkey meatballs at my house much faster to prepare (especially since there are very few left after making a batch)

MY version of an armadillo is involves a chicken breast, jalepenos, motzerella(sp), bacon, and seasonings of my choice. I season my chicken and cut a hole in the middle, like a pouch. Then I seed the jalepeno and put it in and layer with cheese. I put the top back on the chicken and wrap in bacon and use toothpicks to secure. I then throw it on the grill. It's a main dish instead of an appitizer.

So excited to make these tonight!!! I have a ton of jalapenos I need to use, as well as a pound or two of sage sausage. I'll replace the garlic with shallots (currently obsessed with their flavor!), and use Jalapeno cream cheese for extra spice. Yummy! —-Sarahlynn =)

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